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Showing 41 - 50 of 513 results for "Jobless"

Chief economist update: The Fed pause that refreshes

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 24 APR 2019
... Low in March US Manufacturing Growth Holds Steady at Near 2-Year Low US Retail Sales Post Biggest Gain in 1-1/2 Years US Jobless Claims Drop to Fresh Low since 1969 US March Budget Gap Smaller than Expected What immediately came to my balding head was... ...

Chief economist update: Two indicators giving the Fed a headache

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 9 APR 2019
... 4.3%." The latest US non-farm payrolls report put the unemployment rate at 3.8% in March - the 19th straight month that the jobless rate had been below the "median value of 4.3%". The outlook for jobs remain positive gauging from the March consumer confidence ...

Chief economist update: Good jobs bad jobs

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 25 JAN 2019
... time, the unemployment rate has edged lower to 5% from 5.1% (taking this to two decimal points, Factset figures show the jobless rate down to 4.98% in December - the lowest rate since June 2011 (4.92%)). That's fine and dandy, Andy. These numbers ...

Chief economist update: Americans who want work will find it

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 5 NOV 2018
... government budget wins too, in that it's spending less on unemployment benefits. Latest data show that continuing jobless claims dropped to 1,631,000 in the week ending 20 October - the lowest level since the mid-1970s and is edging closer to the ...

RBNZ on ice into 2020

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 28 SEP 2018
... 4.5% in the June quarter from the nine-month low of 4.4% in the previous quarter ended five straight quarters of falling jobless rate. The risk is that the unemployment rate continues to climb. This is because while New Zealand business confidence has ...

The BOE's got no problem

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 23 AUG 2018
... has dropped further from a 42-year low of 4.2% to a 43-year low of 4% in the three months to June. The decline in the jobless rate comes despite the participation rate remaining at a near-record high of 78.8%. The good news (or bad?) is that growth in ...

Chief economist update: Betting on down rather than up?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 10 AUG 2018
... 4.5% in the June quarter from the nine-month low of 4.4% in the previous quarter ended five straight quarters of falling jobless rate. The sharp and sequential erosion in business confidence since January this year (-19 reading) to a nine month low -44.9 ...

Chief economist update: Heaven can wait but the BOE couldn't

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 3 AUG 2018
"The mistake is to always wait, wait, wait until you have perfect certainty." - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney The Bank of England (BOE) finally went ahead and did it. It lifted the Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 0.75% at the conclusion of its ...

Chief economist update: Fed will go hiking in June

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 24 MAY 2018
... unemployment rate had stayed low." True that. The US unemployment rate was clocked at 3.9% in April. This is the lowest jobless rate since an equal 3.9% in December 2000 - that's around 17.5 years - and followed six straight months of low 4.1% readings. ...

Chief economist update: Forget asking for a pay rise

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 18 MAY 2018
It's good and...it's bad. The statistician's estimates of the Australian labour market for April provide something to crow about for the optimists and the pessimists alike. As the bulls would have it (that includes the Coalition government ...